My life these days centers around ratatouille.  It’s easy, it tastes great hot or cold, leftovers are fabulous in a bone broth soup, and it’s easy to pull the flavors in any number of directions: let the veggies shine on their own with a little olive oil, salt and pepper, or pull it in a new direction with Indian or Mexican spices. And the kids even eat it.   I just can’t strike out with it.   And when I’m feeling extra lazy, it gets served in our house.  Think of it as sausage-and-peppers meets ratatouille.

There’s no real recipe.  Dice up enough September veggies to fill up a 9 x 12 pan: red and green peppers, tomatoes, fresh garlic, onions, eggplant, zucchini and  summer squash all work. There is no need to add water to the pan, nor to toss the vegetables in oil.

Take two pounds of savory sausage links — sweet Italian, hot Italian, andouille, even breakfast sausage are all fine —  and lay them on top of the vegetables.  Put the whole ensemble in a 350 degree oven for an hour.  Dinner’s ready..